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☆ TikTok sues U.S. government, says ban violates First Amendment
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Angela Yang | Savannah Sellers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Circuit, argues that the bill, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, violates constitutional protections of free speech. Now, legal proceedings will pause that timeline, meaning it could be years before a ban goes into effect. Tuesday's lawsuit is the latest development in what has become a multi-year effort by the U.S. government to effectively ban TikTok. Efforts to rein in the popular video-sharing app have persisted since 2020 under both the Trump and Biden administrations. The federal government and dozens of states have already banned the use of TikTok on government-owned devices.

Persons: TikTok, Joe Biden Organizations: United, U.S ., Appeals, Foreign, The, Justice, Justice Department, U.S, Trump, Biden Locations: United States, U.S

☆ 'Powerful' storm dumps heavy rain over East Coast with 59M under flood alerts
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-18 | by ( Angela Yang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The East Coast is reeling from the impacts with almost 700,000 people across New England and New York without power as of 1 p.m., according to PowerOutage.us . "The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads and small streams the most vulnerable," the weather service said. In New York City, a travel advisory is in effect due to flooding conditions on roads, power outages and high winds on bridges. In New York City, a travel advisory is in effect because of flooding conditions on roads, power outages and high winds on bridges. By the end of today, every single state on the East Coast will have experienced at least 2 inches of rain.

Persons: There's, Eric Adams, Sean Smith, Warden Stefan Pratt, Yasmeen Persaud Organizations: Charleston, Big Apple, NYC Emergency Management, New, New York City Emergency Management Office, Danbury Emergency Management Office, Boston's Massachusetts College of Art, Amtrak, Central Maine Power, Hillsdale Fire Department, NBC News, LaGuardia, Boston Logan International Airport, Boston Logan International Locations: Elmsford , New York, New England, New York, Florida, Carolinas, Charleston, Gainesville , Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Maine, New York City, Manhattan, In Connecticut, Danbury, Providence , Rhode Island, Boston, New Jersey, Hillsdale , New Jersey, Glendale, Moretown , Vermont, Brookhaven Calabro, Shirley , New York, Canada, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Indiana, Lake Erie, Ohio, West, Sierra Nevada

☆ Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life in prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Angela Yang | Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"That '70s Show" star Danny Masterson was sentenced Thursday to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women more than two decades ago at his Hollywood Hills home. Masterson had been charged with raping three women — identified at trial as Jane Doe #1, Jane Doe #2 and Jane Doe #3 — between 2001 to 2003. His second trial ended with the actor being convicted of raping Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 but not Jane Doe #3. All three accusers are former members of the Church of Scientology, to which Masterson still belongs. Both trials focused unwanted attention on the controversial church, which the women have accused of trying to cover up the allegations.

Persons: Danny Masterson, Masterson, —, Jane Doe, Read, NBC News Masterson's, Judge Charlaine Olmedo, Karin Pouw Organizations: Hollywood, NBC News, of Scientology, Scientology Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Pandemic-era stigma cost Asian restaurants $7.4B in lost revenue, new study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Stigma against Chinese cuisine in the first year of the pandemic cost Asian restaurants in the United States an estimated $7.4 billion in lost revenue in 2020, a recent study found. In a year in which tens of thousands of restaurants closed and many barely scraped by, the study — published online last week in the journal Nature Human Behaviour — reported that Asian restaurants across the country lost 18.4% more in foot traffic than other restaurants in 2020. Prominent reports of anti-Asian racism, from harassment to direct violence, flooded the country in the years after the pandemic’s outbreak. What was particularly surprising to Krupenkin, however, was that Asian restaurants that were not Chinese suffered an even greater decrease in traffic than Chinese restaurants. After investigating this spillover of consumer discrimination, her team found that many people simply couldn’t tell different Asian cuisines apart.

☆ Andy Cohen becomes latest person to bash TikTok fake celebrity death prank trend
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Andy Cohen has joined the list of people who are not amused by the so-called celebrity death prank trend on TikTok that went viral over the holidays. It is unclear who started the celebrity death prank, according to Know Your Meme’s database. The celebrity death prank trend has prompted mixed responses, with some viewers reacting in positive ways and others arguing the videos do more harm than good. The trend first sparked criticism after Slater Vance, 16, pranked his celebrity parents, Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, on New Year’s Eve. “Your parents are showing vulnerability for a brief second,” O’Connell said in a video uploaded to TikTok on Christmas.

Team USA take on the Netherlands in the first knockout round of the round of Qatar World Cup Saturday. While the Dutch sailed through Group A without much drama the U.S. have performed above expectations, the midfield trio of Yunus Musah, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie dominating against England and Iran. Making knockout play was a major achievement for the United States, which failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

☆ What's in the 'magic spray' World Cup players use, and does it really work?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Saudi Arabia's midfielder Salem Al-Dawsari receives medical treatment during the Qatar 2022 World Cup match between Saudi Arabia and Mexico on Nov. 30. It’s common for soccer players to take impacts in bony areas, which can cause pain but don’t often lead to lasting injuries. But if a player suffers a fracture or tear, cold spray might do more harm than good. Serbia's forward Aleksandar Mitrovic receives medical attention during the Qatar 2022 World Cup match between Cameroon and Serbia on Nov. 28. The general public can find versions of these sprays at drug stores or online, sold as “Cold Spray” or “Pain Relief Spray” by brands like Cramer or MyDerm.

☆ Common treatment for joint pain may be linked to faster arthritis progression, research suggests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

One of the most common pain relief treatments for arthritis, corticosteroid injections, may actually be associated with faster progression of the disease, according to new research. There is no cure, but the discomfort is sometimes treated with corticosteroid shots. The scans, collected annually for four years, revealed worse arthritis progression among participants injected with corticosteroids compared to the other two groups. Just because imaging shows more arthritis progression doesn’t mean a patient feels more pain. And second, he said, the results shouldn’t lead people to avoid corticosteroid shots in all situations.

Fungal infections are more widespread than doctors or patients realize, research suggests. People generally get fungal infections after breathing in spores. Thompson’s paper came just weeks after another study revealed high rates of fungal disease diagnoses far outside their traditionally understood geographies. A World Health Organization report in October also found that severe fungal infections became more prevalent among people with pre-existing health issues during the Covid pandemic. In some cases, fungal infections can take months of treatment to clear and may become chronic.

Few causes have united the country like this summer’s multistate effort to kill spotted lanternflies, the colorful invasive insects that have wreaked havoc in at least 14 states. Now, as adult lanternflies begin to perish during the winter, experts say those efforts might have curbed the species’ spread to some degree. Anne Johnson, a doctoral student studying the spotted lanternfly in Hoover’s lab at Penn State, believes the viral trends can make a difference. Spotted lanternflies are native to China, where they don’t often become a pest. “We’ll always have to deal with spotted lanternfly,” Johnson said.

☆ Jobs that show salary ranges: Pay transparency and work culture
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Having focused on this work for nine years, she said what’s happening now with pay transparency will most likely mirror what has happened with remote work in recent years. But as the practice of pay transparency becomes more common and less of a novelty, choosing not to disclose salary ranges will be seen as out of the norm. Melanie Naranjo, who heads its "people team," said the company weighed common employer concerns before deciding that the benefits of salary transparency would outweigh any costs. He said listing salary ranges will help candidates better understand the value of their role, too. I think all of these future-of-work conversations are related, and a lot of these issues can be solved through pay transparency, but also pay flexibility.”

☆ Judge dismisses suit alleging TikTok ‘blackout challenge’ caused girl’s death
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit that claimed TikTok was responsible for the death of a 10-year-old who took part in the so-called Blackout Challenge. The challenge, which encourages participants to choke themselves until they pass out, had appeared on the child’s TikTok For You Page, according to court documents. The lawsuit was among several that have been filed related to the Blackout Challenge in the last year. In July, the families of two young girls also sued TikTok after their children, aged 8 and 9, died of self-strangulation while participating in the Blackout Challenge. A TikTok spokesperson told NBC News that the challenge had never trended on the platform and predates the app’s existence.

☆ Emmanuel the TikTok-famous emu doesn't have bird flu, caretaker says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Emmanuel the emu, who caused hysteria online last week when his caretaker suggested he might have contracted the highly contagious bird flu, is OK. It turns out Emmanuel became ill from stress, his caretaker, Taylor Blake, said in a lengthy Twitter update over the weekend. "Emmanuel Todd Lopez tested negative for Avian Influenza at 2 separate labs, swab, fecal and blood," Blake tweeted. Taylor Blake and Emmanuel the emu of Knuckle Bump Farms. "We believe this all stemmed from stress," Blake tweeted.

☆ 'White Lives Matter' T-shirts were handed out on Los Angeles’ skid row. One woman decided to give unhoused people an alternative option.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

A Los Angeles woman is handing out plain T-shirts to unhoused people to provide them with an alternative clothing option after boxes of excess T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase“White Lives Matter” were recently dropped off on skid row. The Anti-Defamation League describes “White Lives Matter” as a “white supremacist phrase” and categorizes it as a “hate slogan.”“The answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is because they do,” Ye said during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “It’s not about 'Black Lives Matter' or 'White Lives Matter,'” Raines said. “It’s about safety.”It’s not about 'Black Lives Matter' or 'White Lives Matter.' Out of the hundreds of people Raines crossed paths with, she said she met only one woman walking around with the "White Lives Matter" shirt.

"Look we all love Emmanuel the Emu but he has avian flu. Avian flu experts, too, said touching an infected emu isn't advisable, given that the virus can jump from animals to humans in rare cases. H5N1, the bird flu strain currently spreading, is highly contagious among birds, and it can be deadly to them. "Once an avian virus can move to mammals, now we’re in the realm of 'Yeah, we better be careful.'" All three experts said scientists are watching this bird flu closely even though the risk to humans is low.

Two fishermen captured in a viral video appearing to scam an Ohio fishing tournament were on the hook for multiple crimes, including cheating, authorities said in announcing their indictments Wednesday. Two fishermen were found to have weighed down their fish with lead weights in order to win a tournament in Cleveland. @walleyemafia1 via TikTokThe criminal tools charge stemmed from the pair allegedly using Cominsky’s boat during the competition, the release said. A scandal over the alleged crimes erupted Sept. 30, when a video showed a crowd gathering around the competition's proclaimed winners, Runyan and Cominsky. Ten weights were found inside the fish, with eight of them weighing 12 ounces and two weighing 8 ounces.

☆ Dunkin’ changed its rewards program. Devotees of the coffee brand are expressing their outrage on Reddit.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The previous DD Perks program offered a free drink of any kind at $40 spent. The new Dunkin’ Rewards system, unveiled last week, requires customers to spend $70 to get a free crafted drink such as an espresso, cold brew or refresher. Customers also no longer get a free drink on their birthdays. But in the days since its new rewards program took over, the 21-year-old college student has been looking elsewhere for his daily caffeine fix. As one Twitter user joked, “i need us all to collectively manifest the downfall of dunkin rewards so they bring back dd perks.”

Lots of Americans decided during the pandemic they could do without the security of a regular check. Some say the path has been rewarding but challenging.

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